I was an elementary classroom teacher for more than thirty years and my favorite thing to do with my students was “read alouds,” which of course meant I got to read a lot of books. Then I read them to my kids and now my grandkids. I always wanted to read the best because time is so precious in a classroom. My daughter was born very premature and only survived thanks to God and her innate feistiness. She is an overcomer and inspires me to share similar stories. Of the books I’ve written for kids, 2 of the 3 protagonists are girls!
I love stories with kids in the sixties in New York City when a kid could pretty much roam at will. This is one, though that’s not the focus. Harriet M. Welsch, who likes to think of herself as a sort of spy is definitely a keen observer. In her notebook, she writes down everything she knows about everyone, including her classmates and her best friends. It is all truthful, but sometimes not so flattering. Then she loses the notebook! Will she find it before someone else does and keep all the secrets secret? Or will it end up in the wrong hands? And if it does, then what does Harriet do?
First published in 1974, a title in which Harriet M. Welsch, aspiring author, keeps a secret journal in which she records her thoughts about strangers and friends alike, but when her friends find the notebook with all its revelations, Harriet becomes the victim of a hate campaign.
I know there’s a movie, a play, and a comic book at this point. But read the original book – Stargirl! It’s still the best. “Stargirl” Caraway shows up at Mica High School after being home-schooled her whole life. She does her own thing in an honest, uninhibited way. She brings her pet rat and ukulele to school every day and plays and sings “Happy Birthday” to any and every student on their birthday. She wears kimonos and pioneer clothes. At first everyone else is not sure what to make of her and she is kept at a distance, but eventually she wins people over. Then things go terribly wrong and Stargirl has to decide if it’s best to fit in or be true to herself.
Soon to be an original film on Disney+ streaming service!
Before ELEANOR AND PARK, there was STARGIRL. The seminal life-affirming YA novel celebrating first love and self-acceptance - now in a beautiful new edition for the next generation of readers.
She's as magical as the desert sky. As mysterious as her own name. Nobody knows who she is or where she's from. But everyone loves her for being different. And she captures Leo's heart with just one smile.
STARGIRL is a classic of our time that celebrates being true to ourselves and the thrill of first love. A life-changing read…
A Newberry Honor book by a great author. Gilly Hopkins has been in and out of foster homes due to her “uncooperative” nature till she finally lands with a formidable, unusual, and loving family, the Trotters. Gilly likes to be in charge, and she can always smell a phony and figure a way out of there, but this time around, the overwhelming love and matter-of-fact, positive, no-nonsense attitude of Mrs. Trotter make foster care a whole new ball game for Gilly. A realistic, but heartwarming story.
The timeless Newbery Honor Book from bestselling author Katherine Paterson about a wisecracking, ornery, completely unforgettable young heroine.
Eleven-year-old Gilly has been stuck in more foster families than she can remember, and she's hated them all. She has a reputation for being brash, brilliant, and completely unmanageable, and that's the way she likes it. So when she's sent to live with the Trotters—by far the strangest family yet—she knows it's only a temporary problem.
Gilly decides to put her sharp mind to work and get out of there fast. She's determined to no longer be a foster kid. Before long…
It’s a Newberry Award winner, so you know something good is going on here. I must admit, there have been some duds over the many years of the award, but in this case, the writing, the story, and the characters, really do warrant the accolade. Salamanca (Sal) Tree Hiddle is the heroine and voice here. She’s proud of her American-Indian heritage and country roots. She’s on a journey across country from Ohio to Idaho to find her mother. Her somewhat eccentric grandparents are her companions and as they travel Sal tells them the story of another girl, Phoebe Winterbottom, so we have a story within a story. You like a great, realistic, meaningful ending? Me too! You’ll find it here.
Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins.
What is the meaning of this strange message left on the doorstep? Only Sal knows, and on a roadtrip with her grandparents she tells the bizarre tale of Phoebe Winterbottom, Phoebe's disappearing mother and the lunatic. But who can help Sal make sense of the mystery that surrounds her own story . . . and her own missing mother?
Again, loved the play and the movie, but the book is still the best. Humor, wit, courage, love, action, terror, this book has it all. And who can beat Roald Dahl at telling a tale? Matilda is quite the intrepid heroine who overcomes an unloving, criminal family and a cruel and dangerous school headmistress to persevere in love and life. Still one of my favorites, especially as a read-aloud.
12
authors picked
Matilda
as one of their favorite books, and they share
why you should read it.
This book is for kids age
8,
9,
10, and
11.
What is this book about?
Puffin Audiobooks presents Roald Dahl's Matilda, read by Kate Winslet. This audiobook features original music and sound design by Pinewood film studios.
Matilda Wormwood is an extraordinary genius with really stupid parents.
Miss Trunchbull is her terrifying headmistress who thinks all her pupils are rotten little stinkers.
But Matilda will show these horrible grown-ups that even though she's only small, she's got some very powerful tricks up her sleeve . . .
Kate Winslet's award-winning and varied career has included standout roles in Titanic, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Finding Neverland, Revolutionary Road and The Reader, for which she…
Change, while challenging, often drives personal growth, as 13-year-old Andrea discovers. When her father announces the family is relocating to Scotland for a year, Andrea fears her new schoolmates will uncover her secret: She stutters. At home in the States, Andrea’s stellar soccer skills and occasional use of her fists have enabled her to suppress her insecurities. At Dunnotar Academy, Andrea faces the dual stressors of new surroundings and social situations. A place on the Tough Girls Football Club soccer team seems a perfect opportunity for Andrea to rely on familiar strategies to conceal her speech issues. However, a blossoming friendship with a less popular girl and a fledgling romance give Andrea the courage to confront her anxieties. Andrea can literally stay quiet and fit in or risk all by speaking up for herself and others.
My favorite fantasy novels tend to be rather complex. Winding plotlines, mysteriously interconnected characters, whimsical settings, and intricate, thoughtful worldbuilding combine to create immersive stories that stick in the mind like overworn folklore. Time travel or interworld travel lend additional layers of intrigue and mystery, forcing the inescapable contemplation of a more thrilling, alternate reality. And if it’s all packaged in artful, breathtaking prose that breeds full-color images, audible noises, indelible flavors, nose-crumpling odors, and tangible textures, I will happily lose myself in the pages, truly forgetting about the strictures of everyday life… at least until I get hungry and remember I need to consume more than books to survive.
An Heir of Realms tells the tale of two young heroines—a dragon rider and a portal jumper—who fight dragon-like parasites to save their realms from extinction.
Rhoswen is training as a Realm Rider to work with dragons and burn away the Narxon swarming into her realm. Rhoswen’s dream is to Ride, but her destiny will pit her against her uncle and king, who have scorned her since before her birth.
In the Exchange, the waystation between realms, Emmelyn fights the G’Ambit, a gambling ring with members more intent on lining their pockets than protecting the realms—or their own lives.
Realm-devouring parasites threaten all existence. The Exchange is desperate to destroy them. But could their radical plans endanger the realms, too?
Soul-sucking parasites are overwhelming the realms.
Rhoswen of Stanburh is of age to train as a Realm Rider—a defender of the realms. Riders and their dragons work together to burn away infiltrating Narxon as they swarm in through tears in a realm’s fabric. But it’s not an easy battle: the mere touch of the smoky, dragon-like adversaries can reduce the lively winged beasts—and their Riders—to ash.
Becoming a Realm Rider is Rhoswen’s dream, but she carries far more responsibility…
